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AVEO Names Michael N. Needle, M.D., As Chief Medical Officer

Press Release

AVEO Names Michael N. Needle, M.D., As Chief Medical Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2015--
AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ:AVEO) today announced the appointment of Michael
N. Needle, M.D., to the position of Chief Medical Officer. In this role,
Dr. Needle, a board certified hematologist/oncologist, will take a
leadership role in evaluating clinical development strategies for
advancement of the Company’s partnered and proprietary pipeline
programs. He will report to Michael Bailey, AVEO’s president and chief
executive officer.

Michael M. Needle, M.D., Chief Medical Officer (Photo: Business Wire)

“Michael Needle’s unique set of experiences, which includes clinical
development, global regulatory strategy as well as business development
for transformational oncology therapeutics, will enable him to add
important insights to our evaluation of biomarker-driven clinical
strategies and partnerships for advancing our pipeline,” said Michael
Bailey, president and chief executive officer. “These strategies will be
designed to achieve our goal of maximizing the value of our pipeline for
shareholders. Having worked with Michael on the approval of Erbitux® in
colorectal cancer, and followed his career at Celgene and the Multiple
Myeloma Research Foundation and Consortium, I believe that his
commitment to improving patient outcomes and to data driven drug
development will add valuable perspective at a critical time for AVEO.”

“AVEO has a rich, if under-recognized, clinical pipeline with the
potential to meaningfully benefit a number of underserved patient
populations,” said Dr. Needle. “This potential is illustrated by the
Company’s biomarker work, including data which led to the innovative
Biodesix partnership for ficlatuzumab in lung cancer, as well as data
from studies with both tivozanib and AV-203. As part of the AVEO
management team, I look forward to supporting the planned advancement of
these programs, as well as AV-380 for the treatment of cachexia.”

Dr. Needle has more than 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience
in drug development and regulatory affairs. This includes central roles
in the development of oncology and hematology drugs, including Erbitux®
(cetuximab), Revlimid® (lenalidomide) and Pomalyst® (pomolidimide). He
most recently served as the Chief Medical Officer of Array BioPharma.
Prior to Array, Dr. Needle was Chief Medical Officer of the Multiple
Myeloma Research Foundation and Consortium (MMRF). Prior to MMRF, he
held multiple Vice President level positions at Celgene in Clinical
Research and Development in Oncology, Strategic Medical Business
Development, and Pediatric Strategy. Dr. Needle also served as the Vice
President of Clinical Affairs at ImClone Systems Incorporated. Dr.
Needle did his fellowship in Pediatric Hematology / Oncology at the
Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center of the University of Washington in Seattle and the
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. Needle
has held faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania and
Columbia University. Dr. Needle graduated from Binghamton University
with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics and received his medical degree from
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, in Brooklyn, New York.

About AVEO

AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ:AVEO) is a biopharmaceutical company committed to
developing targeted therapies through biomarker-driven insights to
provide substantial improvements in patient outcomes where significant
unmet medical needs exist. AVEO’s proprietary Human Response Platform™
has delivered unique insights into cancer and related disease biology
that are being leveraged in the clinical development of its therapeutic
candidates. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.aveooncology.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements of AVEO within
the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that
involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, contained in this press release are
forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,”
“estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “target,” “potential,”
“could,” “should,” “seek,” or the negative of these terms or other
similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these
identifying words. These forward-looking statements include, among
others, statements about the expected benefits to AVEO of Mr. Needle’s
background and experiences; and the potential of the AVEO’s clinical
pipeline to benefit underserved patient populations. Actual results or
events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and
expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that AVEO makes
due to a number of important factors, including risks relating to:
AVEO’s ability to successfully implement and manage its recently
announced restructuring and obtain the benefits it expects to derive
from the reduction in its workforce and internal research functions;
AVEO’s ability to execute on its business strategy and enter into and
maintain new strategic partnerships and collaboration agreements; AVEO’s
ability to successfully enroll and complete clinical trials of its
product candidates; AVEO’s ability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of
the FDA, EMA, or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies, the safety,
efficacy and clinically meaningful benefit of its product candidates;
AVEO’s ability to achieve and maintain compliance with all regulatory
requirements applicable to its product candidates; AVEO’s ability to
obtain and maintain adequate protection for intellectual property rights
relating to its product candidates and technologies; developments and
expenses related to AVEO’s ongoing shareholder litigation and SEC
inquiry; AVEO’s ability to raise the substantial additional funds
required to achieve its goals; unplanned capital requirements; adverse
general economic and industry conditions; competitive factors; and those
risks discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included in AVEO’s
most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in its other filings with
the SEC. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent
AVEO’s views as of the date of this press release. AVEO anticipates that
subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change.
However, while AVEO may elect to update these forward-looking statements
at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to
do so. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking
statements as representing AVEO’s views as of any date subsequent to the
date of this press release.